The Seeds of Rebellion
by japaneserockergirl
Summary: A merman and a sea wit-err, sorcerer-who just want to stay friends, a woodcarver who hates carving, a spider who doesn't always want to play pranks, and a princess who's trying to find her place. In the aftermath of a certain peer's rejection of her fate, these five must decide whether to pledge their destinies...or make a different choice.
1. First Day Fears

This has got to be the first new fandom I've written for in two years. But after I tuned in to the _Ever After High_ TV special two weeks ago, I knew I _had_ to write something for this series. I just HAD TO. I wanted to go more in-depth with the idea of fairy tale characters questioning their destinies leading up to and after Legacy Day, and thus this baby was born.

Hope you enjoy!

**DISCLAIMER:** I, japaneserockergirl, do not own any aspect of the _Ever After High_ franchise, which includes, but isn't limited to: the dolls, the webisodes, the television special(s), and the novels. Those belong to Mattel and Shannon Hale, respectively. However, I _do_ own Sean Oceanus, Dylan Tempest, Anansi the Spider the 2,257th, Marionette Carver, and Nerissa Marin.

**NOTE:** Cedar Wood and Raven Queen won't appear until Chapter 3, just so you know...

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**T**he **S**eeds **o**f **R**ebellion

**Chapter 1:** First Day Fears

"We've arrived, Master Sean," the driver in front stated as the carriage rumbled to a stop at the cobblestone bridge.

Sean Oceanus, son of the Little Mermaid, rested against the cushioned seats, his green eyes tearing themselves from the window to look at the driver. "Thanks, Irving," he said as he exited the carriage.

The elderly driver removed Sean's trunk from the top of the carriage and handed it to the red-head. "Have a pleasant year, young master."

"Irving, we've been over this: it's just 'Sean'."

"Okay, 'just Sean'," the man teased.

Sean smirked. "Well, it's a start. Tell mom and dad thanks for breakfast and the ride, okay?"

"Will do!" Irving entered the carriage, snapping the harnesses to make the horses turn around.

Sean waited for it to leave his range of sight before making his way up the bridge, trying to ignore the stares. It wasn't like he _wanted _to show off; his parents had insisted on giving him a ride, and since he didn't see them often, the red-head couldn't muster the courage to refuse.

Around the middle of the bridge, Sean stepped to the side—just past where the troll was being scolded by the goat—plopping his trunk on the ground and pulling a conch shell from his pocket. He peeled back the exterior, revealing a number pad and a small screen.

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In the confines of a cave deep in the Atlantis Sea, Dylan Tempest, son of the Sea Witch, pored over the books in his bookshelves, searching for reading material to take with him to campus. The cry of a dolphin made the white-haired male flinch, his tentacles dropping the books they held. He whirled towards the table, where a purple oyster vibrated and cried. There was only one person who knew he had this oyster, only one person who called it.

Nervously, Dylan swam towards his SeaPhone, opening it up to find the image of his best—and only—friend.

"Hey, Sean," he greeted.

"Where are you, merman? I thought we were going to meet up at the troll bridge."

"Oh, sorry about that. I've been looking for books to take with me and must've lost track of time."

Sean shook his head. "You and books…just hex me when you get on campus, all right?"

"Sure. I'll see you there." Dylan pressed a button on the oyster's tongue, ending the call.

He had only been telling _half_ of the truth: yes, he was looking for books, but Dylan was also trying to avoid Sean as much as possible. After all, this would be their sophomore year at Ever After High, the year when they would pledge their destinies. It just wouldn't be wise to continue their friendship.

A loud banging startled Dylan out of his thoughts.

"Oi! Hurry it up in there!"

"Coming!" Dylan tossed the four books he had been holding last, along with his SeaPhone and MirrorPad, into his trunk. After wrapping netting around said trunk, he hoisted it over his shoulder and swam towards the front boulder. Immediately, a golden net of magic flashed before him. "I'm ready!"

In all honesty, Dylan could—and in many cases, _had_—broken the enchantments placed on this boulder, but they couldn't know that. So, he simply waited as the guard broke it for him, the boulder rolling away once the merman was done.

The guard was accompanied by three others, all of them decked in the royal blue sashes of Atlantis and ready to escort Dylan to the surface.

The king couldn't have him running away, after all.

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It had been much harder to get through the mirror than Anansi had thought.

Granted, it probably hadn't helped that he had fought the damn thing the whole trip. But could you blame him? The mirror had gotten rid of _four_ of his six arms!

So with great annoyance, Anansi the Spider the 2,257th stepped into the hallway of Ever After High, startling a few passing students with his sudden appearance. He must've stood out in his bright, multi-colored kente cloth and golden slippers, but he didn't care. He just wanted to get this whole 'destiny' thing over with.

After asking around, he found himself knocking on Headmaster Grimm's door.

"Come in."

The headmaster's office was wide, with red carpet beneath two large bookshelves on each side of the room. They led to a mahogany desk, where the man in question sat, his back to the curtained windows. Headmaster Grimm looked up from his desk.

"Ah, yes, Mr. Spider. Your father told me you would be attending this year. It seems you weren't pulling enough pranks at your last school."

Anansi bit back a snort; he had pulled pranks at Mythology High every day, but if it were up to his old man, he'd probably be pulling them every _minute_. "That's true, Headmaster. I…had trouble finding inspiration back at MytH, so my father suggested that I come here to fulfill my destiny."

_More like he shoved me through that accursed mirror the minute I started to complain_, he thought.

"Well, hopefully you'll find Ever After High to be more inspirational," the headmaster explained, making his way to Anansi, "I wouldn't want to fail our allies in the other realms."

Putting a hand on the dark-skinned boy's shoulder—a gesture Anansi didn't appreciate, but didn't shrug off—Headmaster Grimm steered him into the hallway, giving the new student a brief tour of the classrooms, offices, and other features of the school that Anansi didn't really care to learn about—

"…your roommate is Dylan Tempest, son of the Sea Witch from…"

Anansi's eyes flicked to the headmaster. "A sea witch?"

"Yes. He's one of our more…_troublesome_ students, but he shouldn't give you a hard time."

"Interesting…"_ Maybe this 'Dylan' can give me some ideas…_

Dylan stepped through the doors of Ever After High. Upon reaching the surface, his lower half had transformed into two human legs, which were dressed in black jeans. Said jeans were accompanied by a purple shirt and a waist-length black jacket with wave-like tears on the ends and sleeves. But this transformation didn't deter the usual—

"Ahh! It's Dylan Tempest!"

"Son of the Sea Witch!"

"Sweet fairy _godmother_..."

-which was followed by people and animals fleeing the halls. Dylan sighed.

Anansi whistled. _This guy must be bad news…mythtastic!_

"Ah, Mr. Tempest! Perfect timing," Headmaster Grimm greeted, "Your new roommate has just arrived."

Oh, yeah; from this year on, Dylan had the wonderlandiful privilege of living with someone who'd probably cast enchantments on himself before bed every night. _Great_. Dylan walked towards the two, preparing a list of reassurances to say.

"This is Anansi the Spider Junior," the headmaster continued, "He came from his home realm to become a Trickster like his father."

Dylan's eyes widened. "'Home realm'?" He turned to Anansi. "What was the inter-dimensional transfer process like? Did you maintain your original appearance? Or were there changes? I've heard rumors—"

The headmaster cleared his throat. Dylan flushed. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have flung all those questions on you—"

"Mr. Tempest, we've been over this. You're not to apologize for your wrongdoings."

Dylan's face scrunched up in confusion, jostling his glasses. "I'm _not_ sorry?"

"Much better. Now, please escort Mr. Spider to your room. I'm sure the two of you would like to get acquainted."

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Sean made his way through the bushes of the Enchanted Forest, where Dylan had hexed to meet him. Why did they need to meet there when they could just hang out in one of their rooms? The red-head shook his head. It probably didn't mean anything; Dylan could've just wanted to hang out in the sun after a summer spent (mostly) underwater. Sean knew _he_ did.

The forest was vast, with sturdy trees boasting green leaves, thorny shrubs, and plenty of magical quirks, but it was relatively easy to navigate once you visited a couple of times, especially during the day. Before long, Sean could see Dylan leaning against a tree, book in hand.

"Hey, Dylan!"

The other boy flinched, almost dropping his book as he shut it. "Hey, Sean."

The red-head frowned. "What's up?"

Dylan took a deep breath, trying to slow his heartbeat. He had been preparing for this conversation for half of the summer; he couldn't back down now. "Sean…I don't think we should be friends anymore."

"What? _Why_?"

"Because this is our sophomore year, Sean. After Legacy Day, we're going to become enemies in order to fulfill our destinies—"

"You think I don't know that?" Sean snapped, "My 'destiny' has been drilled into my skull since my parents sent me into the ocean when I was five, Dylan. You don't need to repeat it to me—"

"Yes, I do," Dylan retorted, "because you don't seem to _understand_. If we continue being friends, you're going to get too attached—"

"You saved my life, okay? Of course I'm 'attached'." Sean sighed. "Listen, I know that my destiny is to kill you in order to get my Happily Ever After, but I want us to stay friends anyway. So that when you're gone, I'll have these memories of us hanging out, having fun. I'll know that you didn't want to do the things you're going to do..."

Dylan stared at Sean, not sure what to say. This was why they needed to call things off now: whether Sean held back or not, he'd feel miserable after Dylan was gone, no matter how happy his Happily Ever After was.

But that look in his eyes—he…he meant all of what he said, and that…

…that meant a lot to Dylan. It really did.

The bespectacled male looked down, eyes burning as he fought a smile. The son of the Sea Witch had no business getting all sentimental, after all. He took a few deep yet soft breaths, looking up when his composure returned.

"Very well, then," Dylan said, crossing his arms, "But don't say that I didn't warn you." He smirked.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now come on. I need your help unpacking."

"Oh, is that all I'm good for?"

The two boys laughed as they walked back to campus.

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**Author's Notes:** As per the usual tradition of EAH characters, each one of my OCs has a meaning to their name:

**Sean Oceanus**—Sean should be self-explanatory; Oceanus means 'the world sea'.

**Dylan Tempest**—Dylan means 'son of the sea'; Tempest should be self-explanatory.

**Anansi the Spider**—Anansi is the name of a spider that likes playing tricks on people in Ghanaian mythology; unfortunately, due to the lack of info on Africa available on the internet and in books, I don't know much about him. In the few stories/TV clips I've read/seen, he's portrayed as either a real spider or a man with six arms and two legs (or was it four of each?). The 2,257th I threw in because I don't know how long the myth has existed and that number kept on nagging me the entire time I wrote this.

And as a bonus, I had one of Sean's parents' servants be named Irving, which means 'green water'. XD

Thanks for reading! Constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated!

japaneserockergirl

12/26/13


	2. Looking for Loopholes I

Thank you to koryandrs and NoraMermaid for your review and favorite, respectively!

**DISCLAIMER: **I forgot to mention last chapter, but Mythology High (MytH) is owned by me. Everything aside from that and the aforementioned original characters, however, belongs to Mattel and Shannon Hale.

Enjoy!

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**T**he **S**eeds **o**f **R**ebellion

**Chapter 2:** Looking for Loopholes (PART I)

When Sean had been called into the headmaster's office, he'd been expecting to be punished for snatching last night's seafood casserole from the castleteria, not a girl. But there she was—a black-haired, blue-eyed fairyteen about his age.

"Mr. Oceanus, I would like you to meet Nerissa Marin. Starting today, she'll be attending class here, and I would like you to show her around campus, help her adjust."

It was hard for anyone near—or, in Sean's case, _under_—the sea not to know about the Marins. The family head, Marina, owned the Marin Merchant Agency, a bustling company that acted as a bank for and a mediator amongst merchants, so it wasn't surprising that one of their own decided to attend Ever After High. But Sean knew the _real_ meaning behind Headmaster Grimm's words: there were more 'princes' than 'princesses' in his class year, and the man was using Nerissa's entrance as an opportunity to reduce that ratio.

Sean smiled nonetheless. "Name's Sean, son of the Little Mermaid. Nice to meet you."

Nerissa gave her own forced grin, the implications not lost on her, either. "Same. So…do you like sword fighting?"

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Dylan loved Ever After High's library, with its wide selection of titles from every genre, its heavy, aged paper smell, its layers of dust on the shelves. The best thing of all was that no one could freak out about the 'big, bad sea witch'—noise had to be kept to a minimum and the library was big enough for him to escape any nuisance.

Usually.

But the minute he walked into the library that day, Dylan was greeted with a book to the stomach.

"_Oof_!" The sea sorcerer groaned, grateful that he hadn't eaten lunch yet. Rubbing his abdomen, he grabbed the text off of the floor. "'The History of Woodworking'?"

"I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

A dark-skinned girl with long, straight black hair rushed towards him from across the room.

"Books aren't your personal punching bags, y'know," Dylan huffed, handing the book back to her, "Especially not the classics; they're fragile."

The girl's eyebrow rose. _This guy just got socked in the gut, and he's worried about the _book_?_ "I'm sorry about the book?"

Dylan nodded. "As you should be. Now, why were you tossing books around?"

The girl bristled slightly at that remark, but managed to calm down quickly. Sighing, she replied, "I'm just mad that I didn't get the electives I wanted."

"Why not?"

"Because they didn't fit with my 'destiny'," she went on, "Never mind that I placed out of _all_ the woodworking classes offered here—I have to take them, anyway!"

Dylan stroked his chin. "Well, _that's_ fun. What's your story?"

"Pinocchio. I'm Marionette, daughter of Geppetto."

_That explains the book choice…_ "And which classes did you want to take?"

Marionette rubbed the back of her neck, glancing away. "I kind of wanted Dress Design, Shoe Making, and Enchanted Singing…"

"Well, when I was setting up my schedule last spellmester," Dylan explained, "I tried showing how taking certain classes corresponded with my destiny. For example, I managed to switch Ominous Chanting and Incanting with Enchanted Singing by saying that a nice singing voice would help me deceive people."

"So basically, you want me to find a loophole."

"Exactly. In regards to Dress Design and Shoe Making, you could tell your fairy god-counselor that you're taking them to improve your creations."

"Yeah, I could say that instead of painting their clothes, I want to make them. That's good. But what about Enchanted Singing?"

"That might be more of a stretch. You could argue that you're taking it to help you make singing puppets or something, but ES would help with your singing, not the singing of anything you make."

"True…but at least now I stand a chance with the other two classes, so that's something."

"Right. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to find a book on medieval curses for one of my classes. It was nice talking to you—aside from the whole book incident."

Marionette snickered. "Yeah, my curse. Thanks for helping me, um…"

Dylan hesitated before answering. "Dylan. Dylan Tempest…son of the Sea Witch."

The girl's eyes widened slightly, but the grin only faltered for a moment. "Thanks, Dylan."

"You-you're welcome," the white-haired male stuttered, his voice almost an octave higher. No one had ever reacted positively upon learning who he was. Even Sean had taken a few minutes to recover. He cleared his throat. "Guess I'll be seeing you around, then."

He headed towards the Medieval history section, but didn't get far before bumping into someone—_no,_ two_ someones_, he noted as the three of them stumbled backwards.

"Whoa," Sean said, before looking up. "Oh, hey, Dylan. What's up?"

Dylan adjusted his glasses. "Nothing much. Just looking for books, running into people at every corner…who's this?" he asked upon noticing Sean's companion.

"This is Nerissa. She's, uh…my 'princess', I guess?"

Dylan smirked. "Oh, _really_?"

"Yes, really," Sean snapped, "She's new here, so I'm showing her around. Nerissa, this is my friend, Dylan."

Nerissa blanched. "You mean the sea witch you told me about earlier?"

Sean took in a sharp breath. He hadn't meant to reveal his friend's legacy when he'd mentioned the sorcerer earlier, but it had just slipped out. The redhead hoped he wasn't too hurt.

If Dylan was, he didn't show it. "I see my legacy precedes me. Nice to meet you. But for future reference, I'm a sorcerer, not a witch."

An awkward silence fell, during which Nerissa tried not to fidget, Sean tried to think of conversation starters, and Dylan tried to look as amiable as possible. Nothing worked, forcing the latter to clear his throat.

"Well, I need to find a book for my class. I'll see you guys later. Welcome to Ever After High, Nerissa," Dylan said as he made his way past the two.

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Baba Yaga's office wasn't much of an office at all—at least, not the parts Dylan could _see_, anyway. Most of it was dark, with only one light bulb illuminating the center of the room. In said center rested a desk and a few chairs arranged in a circle, only one of which was being used, as Baba Yaga chose to float and Headmaster Grimm to stand next to her.

"Mr. Tempest, it has come to our attention that, once again, you haven't been causing trouble on campus," the headmaster said.

Dylan stifled a snort. They'd had this conversation way too many times. "Can't say that I have, sir."

"And that's a problem, Dylan," Baba Yaga replied, "You're a sophomore now. With Legacy Day just around the corner, how can you expect to become a Sea Witch—"

"_Sorcerer_," Dylan corrected, adding a 'ma'am' once he realized he'd snapped at her.

"—sorcerer if you don't act like one?"

Dylan was spared from having to respond thanks to Anansi stumbling into the room.

"Mr. Spider, how good of you to join us," Headmaster Grimm remarked, "We were just discussing appropriate behavior on campus, a skill both you and Mr. Tempest seem to be lacking. There's also the matter of you not tackling your prank quota. Care to explain?"

Anansi chuckled as he caught his breath, leaning against the doorframe. "Why yes, yes I would. I haven't been pulling pranks lately because I wanted people to let their guard down. That way, they won't see the really _big_ prank that I'm planning coming!"

Headmaster Grimm crossed his arms. "And what is this 'really big prank'?"

Anansi smirked. "You'll find out in 5—"

A loud explosion rocked the building, objects on Baba Yaga's desk toppling over and the headmaster falling down in response. Dylan was only spared the same fate thanks to his magic. The ruckus was followed by the chittering of insects and the cries of horrified students.

Headmaster Grimm marched towards the door and peered into the hallway. "Excellent _work_, Mr. Spider! In all my years as headmaster, I've _never_ seen this kind of chaos on our campus!" He looked back inside. "Mr. Tempest, you could learn quite a bit from your roommate. Now, if you'll excuse me…"

The headmaster ran out the room.

"Well, I should go help him," Baba Yaga added, floating out the door.

Dylan stormed towards Anansi, smacking the boy in the chest.

"Ow! What was that for?" Anansi cried, rubbing the affected area.

"You _knew_ we were going to be sent to the advisor's office!"

"I didn't find out until this morning! By then, we were on opposite sides of the campus. There was no way I could reach you _and_ pull the prank in time!"

"And you couldn't send a member of your legion of insects to find me? Or shoot me a hex—"

Dylan's pocket vibrated. He pulled out his Sea Phone and flipped it open, revealing a hex message that read:

_U going 2 Briar's study party 2nite?_

"Who's it from?" Anansi asked.

"Sean. He says there's some study party…" _For what class?_ Dylan typed.

_S and S. Trust me you'll WANT 2 come 2 this 1._

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Dylan sighed as he rested against the wall. When Sean had told him about the study party, he hadn't expected it to be an actual _party_. To his dismay, however, the place was packed with fairyteens—and not just his classmates—dancing to blaring music as they chanted concepts, acronyms, and mnemonic devices. To make matters worse, he couldn't find Sean.

The sea sorcerer just wasn't made for these things: spending most of your life in a sea cave didn't exactly give you opportunities to learn how to socialize…or how to _dance_. Dylan chugged the cup of fairy ale he'd been nursing. Well, at least he'd pass tomorrow's test…

"ANANSI!"

Dylan almost gagged on his drink, looking up. Several students complained as they were shoved aside by the screamer.

"Anansi the Spider, I know you're in here! You're gonna pay for what you did to Cedar!"

Marionette emerged from the herd of students, eyes darting around. Curious, Dylan approached.

"Why do you need Anansi?" Dylan shouted over the yells of students who'd suddenly started reciting the five levels of mystic animal classification.

She turned to him. "Oh, it's you! I'm after him 'cause that jerk decided to include termites with his wave of bugs and spiders earlier, and they started gnawing on Cedar."

"That's sounds terrible. Is Cedar okay? I take it she's Pinocchio's daughter?"

Marionette nodded. "Yeah, I made her out of his old parts myself. I mean, she's fine for the most part, but some of those things bit holes into her. It'll take some enchanted wood glue and sawdust to fix, though…which is why Anansi's gonna get it when I find him. _If_ I find him."

The boy fought a smirk. _Glad to see that Anansi throwing me into the oven hasn't gone unpunished._ "What if I told you that I had a hexproof way of getting back at him?"

Marionette eyed him curiously. "How?"

Dylan's smile twisted into a smirk worthy of an evil sorcerer. "He's my roommate."

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**Author's Notes: **Oh, boy; something tells me that Anansi's gonna be really unhappy, REALLY soon. XD

There was one more scene that I wanted to add to this chapter, but I figured that it was better off being in Chapter 3 and decided to end it here.

You guys probably noticed that this chapter references _Stark Raven Mad _and_ Briar's Study Party_, even though those web episodes don't happen until after_ Apple: The Story of a Royal _ and _Raven: The Story of a Rebel_. I figured that those two episodes (and several others, for that matter) could have easily taken place either before or after _Apple_ and _Raven_, so I took a little creative liberty here.

In regards to Cedar's origins, when I was originally planning this fic, I hadn't realized that Cedar was Pinocchio's _biological_ daughter; I just figured she'd been built and taken in as an 'adopted' child (like Cupid), so I had to mess with things a bit here to make Marionette's existence valid.

I mentioned 'spellmester' here, even though Ever After High is _clearly_ a high school, because I was pretty torn between giving the school marking periods or semesters. Marking periods would fit more with the whole high school thing (at least in an American sense), but I figured that they'll need to take a lot of classes in order to fulfill their destinies, and four years with just 4-6 classes per year might not cut it (Was it 4-6 classes per year?). There's also the fact that Rumplestilskin and Nimble are referred to as _professors _in the webisodes, which really doesn't help at all. XD

As for Nerissa, her name means 'sea sprite' (**Nerissa**) and 'sailor' (**Marin**), respectively. I brought her in as a 'flexible destiny' character because someone on YouTube pointed out that there could be incest amongst the characters since they're the children of fairy tales, and I'd rather not think about the characters' situations like that…

For **Marionette**: Marionettes are a type of puppet, and **Carver**'s…well, you get the picture. XD

Thanks for reading, and feel free to review!

Japaneserockergirl

1/4/14


	3. Looking for Loopholes II

I'm so sorry! I meant for this to be up _days_ ago. Alas, I had to prepare for returning to campus next week. Special thanks to TooMuchSarcasm, EmmaWinterFrost, Morrowyn, LadyLania, and seniorcopycat for your reviews, favorites, and/or follows, and Madame Zashley for adding my story to her community!

To clear up a question that was raised in the last chapter: yes, I'm using Disney's version of _The Little Mermaid_ here, partially because 1.) it fits with the whole 'good guys always win' theme you see in Ever After High, and 2.) because I'm saving the original version for something in the future.

A small warning here, though: this chapter is why this story has a 'T' rating instead of a 'K' or a 'K+'.

Hope you enjoy!

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**T**he **S**eeds **o**f **R**ebellion

**Chapter 3:** Looking for Loopholes (PART II)

"You are a sick, _twisted_ little man," Anansi hissed as he approached the castleteria table where Dylan sat. Dylan's grin only grew as he turned the page of his book and gestured for his spoon to feed him some porridge.

"Huh, I never thought that I'd actually _like_ hearing these words," the white-haired male replied, "Y'know, I may not enjoy the idea of becoming evil, but now I see just how it could appeal to some people…" He looked up from his novel to find Anansi covered in various types of pies. "Oceans. So _that's_ what she had planned…"

"Yeah," the dark-skinned boy snapped as he took a seat with his tray, "I woke up this morning and opened my closet to find a self-launching pie catapult that launches four pies...at the _same time_. Took me fifteen minutes to shut it off."

Dylan whistled. "I wonder how long it took Marionette to make that. I hope she isn't too tired—"

"_Her_? What about _me_? I'm the one who's going to smell like lemon fairangue pie for a week!"

The sea sorcerer shrugged. "It serves you right for throwing me under the troll bridge and putting Cedar Wood in danger. I mean, come _on_, Anansi. _Termites_? She's made of enchanted wood, for godmother's sake!"

"I didn't know she was in that classroom! I only had five minutes until I had to reach the office."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Dylan replied, putting his hands up in surrender, "But why didn't you just take a shower and change your clothes?"

Anansi simply stared at his roommate before smacking a palm against his face, smearing cherry pie onto himself as he slid his hand down. Dylan laughed.

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Meanwhile, from a table across the room, Cedar winced.

"Did you really have to do that?" she asked Marionette, who sat across from her.

"What?" Marionette replied, swallowing a bite of her egg, sausage, and cheese sandwich. "He attacked you with termites, remember? I was just returning the favor. It's not like he's hurt…at least not _physically_."

Cedar shook her head. While she admired her friend's willingness to 'avenge' her, this was a bit much. The woodcarver had lost three days of sleep building that thing.

"I'm pretty sure he didn't mean it. But anyway, I heard that the Legacy Day Design Committee is looking for new members. And I, um, know you like to sketch fashion designs—"

Marionette flinched.

"N-not that I was spying or anything!" Cedar added, "I accidentally banged my knee against your table yesterday while looking for the videogame you borrowed, and the notebook fell off and opened…"

A pit formed in Marionette's stomach. She didn't like keeping secrets from Cedar, especially since she was the woodcarver's first friend. But she had learned a long time ago to be careful with what she said around the other girl. Cedar's curse could be—and had been—exploited for information. "It's okay, Cedar. I know you wouldn't. But I don't know: my sketches aren't exactly the best, and my sewing's just…"

"They looked really good to me," Cedar said, "Plus, you're always patching up my clothes. I'm sure you'll do fine." She patted Marionette's back and gave her a reassuring smile.

Marionette smiled. "Fine, I'll do it."

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Nerissa unleashed the arrow from her bow, the projectile making a soft _WHOOSH_ as it tore through the air. It hit the bull's-eye, but the black-haired girl couldn't appreciate her success today. After all, it was the start of the Legacy Day rehearsals; after Legacy Day, she'd be on her way to becoming Sean's sea-faring princess, a girl who stood at the edges of boats to admire the view and the ocean spray—

_—only to be interrupted by something striking the side of the ship. The deck splinters, then breaks in two, sending her tumbling into the freezing, suffocating ocean—_

"Nerissa?"

Nerissa flinched as something warm touched her shoulder. She whirled around to find her face inches from Sean's. The redhead stepped back, his hand retracting. The black-haired girl took a few deep breaths as she returned to reality.

_That…was six years ago; this is now. You're not on board a ship, you're at school. It's okay, it's okay, it's okay…_ "Hey, Sean."

"Morning, Nerissa," Sean said, "Everything okay? You look pale."

"Y-yeah. Everything's fine. You just surprised me, that's all."

Sean grinned, but the expression didn't reach his eyes. "Sorry about that. Mind if I join you?" He waved his bow.

"You practice archery?" Nerissa's eyebrow rose, "But I thought you said you spend all your time under the sea."

"_Most_ of my time," Sean corrected as he snatched an arrow, "I get to spend part of my summers at my parents' mansion every summer, and my dad teaches me archery when I'm there."

"Oh…"

"I have to warn you, though: I don't get a lot of practice, so I might be a _little_ rusty…"

Nerissa laughed. "Don't worry about it."

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The line extended from the white stage all the way into the school, the students lined up according to their tale or myth. Those who had already finished practicing their pledges sat in the white chairs in the audience, chatting amongst themselves.

Dylan's good mood had evaporated the minute the intercom blared during his Underwater Spells and Potions class, informing students that the first round of Legacy Day rehearsals started after lunch. From now on, it was the countdown to his destiny.

The countdown to his death.

His stomach churned as he twisted his fingers.

"You okay?" Anansi asked as they walked to the courtyard.

"Yeah," the white-haired male answered, even though they both knew he wasn't.

"Dylan!"

Dylan spotted Sean standing closer to the front of the line, waving him down.

"Coming!" With a nod to Anansi, he made his way over to Sean. "Thanks for saving me a spot. Where's Nerissa?"

"I just hexed her. She said she went off campus to eat. I hope she gets back here soon."

"We still have time. There's five stories ahead of us, and one of them is _The Wizard of Oz_."

Fortunately—or in Dylan's case, _un_fortunately—Nerissa reached the courtyard before it was their turn. Once the daughter of the Tin Man stepped away, Sean walked onstage and before the podium.

He took a deep breath. "I, Sean Oceanus, son of the Little Mermaid, pledge to follow my mother's destiny and become the next Little Mermaid." The redhead quickly muttered, "Mer_man_," to which Dylan chuckled.

Sean stepped aside. Dylan gulped, but otherwise, his expression was neutral as he walked up to the podium. "I, Dylan Tempest, son of the Sea Witch, pledge to follow in my mother's footsteps and become the next Sea Sorcerer—"

"Witch, Mr. Tempest," Headmaster Grimm corrected.

Dylan turned to him. "No, headmaster, I _mean_ 'sorcerer'."

The headmaster looked confused. Dylan sighed. "I can't be a sea _witch_ because witches are girls, and I'm a boy."

"Are you sure about that?" Afzal, son of Jafar, jeered, accompanied by his friends' laughter. Dylan rolled his eyes, then followed Sean offstage.

As they took their seats, Sean said, "Ignore Afzal. He's krill."

Dylan laughed. The redhead was clearly trying to distract him from Legacy Day, but he didn't mind. "Sean, I have The History of Evil Spells with the guy. I know he's krill. So, you wanna go swimming tonight?"

"Sure. Just swimming or do you wanna hunt—"

"Hey, Sean!" Nerissa took the seat next to the redhead. "That was ridiculously easy. I don't get why we even need to practice."

Dylan summoned a book to read with a noticeable huff. It had taken him a while, but the white-haired male eventually came to realize that Nerissa had been trying to keep Sean away from him ever since she had arrived. Even now, when Dylan only had a few precious weeks before he was shoehorned into his destiny, Nerissa insisted on hogging up Sean's time. Didn't she have Forever After and a day to be with him? The sea sorcerer shook his head. He had no business thinking like that. Sean was allowed to have other friends. Besides, he sounded ridiculously clingy, and sea sorcerers were _not_ clingy.

Sean sighed. He wanted to call Nerissa out for ignoring Dylan, but didn't know how to go about it without creating a scene. Why did she hate Dylan, anyway? Sure, the guy was going to become the next Sea Witch, but people usually cut him some slack once they got to know him.

"Uh, I have a question."

"Wait a second," the redhead mumbled as he turned to the stage. After all, who could possibly have a question about something as simple as pledging? On stage, Raven Queen turned towards Headmaster Grimm.

"Yes, what is it?" the man asked.

"What if I don't _want_ to pledge my destiny?"

Gasps erupted from both the audience and those in line. Nerissa and Sean gaped. Dylan dropped his book. Anansi, who hovered over a girl eating porridge, nearly dropped the spider he'd been planning to dangle over her head. (And if one had looked very closely, they could have seen the wide-eyed look on the spider's face.)

"Now, Ms. Queen, get those dangerous thoughts out of your head," Headmaster Grimm scolded, "If you don't take your pledge on Legacy Day, both you and your tale will disappear _forever_."

"But—"

"_Forever_! Now, let's start from the beginning, shall we?"

"I…I have to go," Raven muttered, rushing off the stage and into the school.

Whispers filled the air, ranging from "Is she crazy? Why would she ask that?" to "Well, I don't exactly _like_ my destiny, either…" but Dylan was deaf to them all, the gears in mind turning furiously. Maybe no one could reject their destiny, but what about working within it? Finding a loophole? But he couldn't just rely on his knowledge of his destiny on his own.

He would need the Storybook of Legends.

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Getting his hands on a book about key-based spells was easy—he knew every bookstore and library in town like his own tentacles, and dropping hints about his legacy in the more…_obscure_ markets had opened a lot of doors. It was figuring out the headmaster's schedule and cracking Godmother-knew how many levels of enchantments placed on the door—and without getting caught—that was hard.

But two weeks and ten minutes later, Dylan was in Headmaster Grimm's office. Closing the door behind him, the white-haired male scanned the room for any more enchantments or traps, eyes glowing gold as he did. Once he confirmed that there was nothing else to worry about, he relaxed—well, relaxed as much as a student who was breaking into the headmaster's office _could_, anyway—then muttered a locating spell.

A small patch of carpet near the desk unfurled, exposing wooden floorboards that removed themselves, allowing the Storybook of Legends to float onto the desk. Dylan approached, heart pounding. If anyone caught him…no, if the _headmaster_ caught him…

"Let's make this quick, then," Dylan muttered before chanting the spell, his eyes and hands glowing as the latter hovered over the tome.

A sea-green and purple key bathed in golden magic materialized before him, inserting itself into the book. The sorcerer released a breath he hadn't even known he'd been holding when he heard a _CLICK_ and the book opened.

The first page showed him in his sea cave, only a few years older and without a large, enchanted boulder preventing his escape. Sean floated before him, begging for his help. Nothing the sea sorcerer could do with that, really.

The second page had Dylan and Sean singing, the former seizing the latter's voice and magic as he transformed the redhead into a human. The voice flooded into a pearl chained around his neck. Still nothing.

The third was of him walking alongside the beach disguised as a human, Sean's singing playing from his choker as Nerissa looked on from her window. Maybe here?

It was when the third page turned that Dylan's heart slammed into his chest. He and Nerissa were kissing and caressing, the girl's eyes glowing gold as she lured him into her bedroom.

_Just what kind of sick things am I expected to _do_?_

The fifth page had him fleeing Nerissa's mansion some time later, clutching his stomach as his eyes twisted shut in pain—

In the sixth, Dylan was back in the ocean, only this time he was holding a baby that looked a lot like him, surrounded by ink and looking completely exhausted. The sorcerer slapped his hand over his mouth as bile rushed up his throat. He was going to…going _to_—

The seventh found Dylan dressed in a white suit and holding the still entranced Nerissa's hand as a pastor tried to wed them. Sean was rushing towards them, yelling soundlessly…

…but he was too late. By the next page, Sean had transformed back into a merman, Dylan sucking his life force away.

Sean's grandfather, the king of the Atlantis Kingdom, stumbled onto the ship, begging to take Sean's place. Dylan complied, and with a snap of his finger, both the king's life force and the trident were his.

The sorcerer grew with power, toppling the wedding ship in the process and creating icebergs in his wake—

But Sean was undeterred. The redhead leapt onto the icebergs, then grabbed onto the trident.

They fought over the weapon, Dylan shrinking and Sean growing until they were back to normal size.

With one powerful tug, Sean snatched the trident, then drove it through Dylan's chest.

On the last page, the sea sorcerer lay sprawled on his back, a gaping hole in his chest from which blood and sea foam burst forth, his eyes glazed over.

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**Author's Notes:** So basically part of Dylan's destiny involves him playing Mr. Seahorse…_yeah_… (Trust me, I disliked writing that part as much you probably did reading it, but it was the best theory about his existence that I could come up with at the time.) Yes, I know that both the original and the Disney version of _The Little Mermaid_ state that the mermaid/Ariel only has three days to woo the prince/Eric, but I wanted to embellish things here (because you can't exactly have a kid and recover within 3 days—even a seahorse takes 2 to 4 weeks!)

Name time!

**Afzal** is Arabic for 'superior'.

And yay, more canon characters are starting to come in! I can't guarantee that anyone else other than Raven, Headmaster Grimm, and Cedar will make an appearance, but it's something, right? XD –shot-

Thanks for reading, and feel free to review!

japaneserockergirl

1/16/14


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